Thursday, July 16, 2009

Spinach Ricotta cheese Pizza with Spinach Pesto




I prepared this delicious, thin crust, and vegeterian pizza with;


  • Baby spinach

  • Ricotta cheese

  • Cherry tomatoes

  • Mozarella cheese

  • Spinach pesto

Spinach pesto


  • 1/3 bunch spinach

  • 2 tbsp parmesan cheese

  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • Salt

  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

You can reach the basic pizza dough recipe from Here


Put all ingredients of pesto in a food proccesor and procces it until smooth. After you roll the dough and place on pizza sheet, spread pesto evenly on it. Arrange ricotta cheese and cherry tomato halves on pesto layer. Bake it in 400 F preheated oven until lightly browned. Arrange baby spinach and grated mozarella cheese on top and bake another 10 minutes or until cheese melt. Slice it up and serve warm.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Tuxedo Cheesecake




I made this delicacy cheesecake for Muhammet's (my spouse) birthday on friday. Tuxedo cheesecake was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever tasted. It looks a little bit hard to prepare. But its taste is worth spending time. It is creamy, rich, and decadent because of the intensive chocolate. Strongly suggested!

Ingredients

Crust
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Cake

  • 3 (8 oz each) packages cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 5 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

For ganache

  • ½ cup chocolate chips
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream

Directions

Lightly butter the sides and the bottom of 9-inch springform cake pan.

To make the crust, mix together the sugar, crumbs, and butter. Cover the bottom only prepared pan with the crumb mixture, using your fingers to press the mixture into an even layer.

To make the cake, beat room temperature cream cheese on medium high-speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a flat paddle. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until the mixture light and creamy. Scrape the inside surface of the bowl. Beat 30 additional seconds. Add the flour and mix to incorporate. Reduce the speed to low, add the eggs one at a tie and mix to incorporate addition. Do not over mix the batter once the eggs have been added.

Divide the batter evenly into 3 separate bowls, about ½ cups each. Add the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips to one bowl and mix to incorporate. Pour this batter over crust layer, and spread the batter into an even layer. Place the pan in the freezer for 60 to 70 minutes or until the cheesecake layer is firm.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Add the melted chocolate to the second bowl of batter and beat until evenly incorporated. Pour this batter over the pecan layer and spread into an even layer. Return the pan to the freezer for 40 to 45 minutes, or until firm. Pour the remaining vanilla batter over the chocolate layer and spread into an even layer.

Wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil and place the pan in a large roasting pan. Place the pan on the middle shelf of the oven. Carefully pour hot water into the roasting pan. The water should rise half way up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 and 20-25 minutes. The cake should be slightly soft in the center. Remove the springform pan from the roasting pan and remove the aluminum foil. Transfer the cake to wire rack and cool at room temperature for 1 hour.
Chill the cake for 1 hour and then remove the sides of the springform pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill several hours or overnight. Melt ½ cup of chocolate chips with hot heavy cream. Garnish with melted chocolate or fudge sauce if desired. Slice and serve.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Tea Menu From a Friend





  • Red lentil Kofte
  • Turkish braid pastry with olive
  • Apple cinnamon cake

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Roasted red pepper salad



This is one of the healthiest salads for summer. It goes great with toasted French baguette slices.

ingredients
  • 4 roasted red bell peppers
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 1/3 bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Half a lemon juice
In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to coat. Serve with baguette slices. Bon apetit!